Description
Another vocal and musical masterpiece from Dan Dean – Vocalise.
TRACK LISTING:
Sergei Rachmaninoff: 14 Romances, Vocalise Opus 34, No. 14 – 6:58
Sergei Prokofiev: Toccata in D Minor, Opus 11 – 3:54
François Couperin: Les Barricades Mystérieuses – 2:25
Igor Stravinsky: L’Histoire du Soldat, Triumphal March of the Devil – 2:22
Gustav Holst: Suite 1, Mvt. 2, Interlude – 2:54
Sergei Prokofiev: Montagues and Capulets – 5:02
Gabriel Fauré: Pavane in F# Minor, Opus 50 – 6:54
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Prelude in G Minor, Opus 23, No. 5 – 4:06
Sergei Prokofiev: L’Amour des Trios Oranges Marche, Opus 33 – 1:41
Mark Knopfler: Going Home (Theme of the Local Hero) 3:41
Knopfler; Chariscourt Ltd. All Rights administered by Almo Music Corp., ASCAP
PERFORMANCE:
DAN DEAN – VOCALS, WHISTLE, FRETLESS BASS
PRODUCTION INFO:
Recorded in High Definition 32 bit 96 kHz
Arranged and produced by Dan Dean
Recorded and mixed by Dan Dean, October 3, 2021 – March 3, 2023
Mastered by Friedemann Tischmeyer, Hamburg, Germany
Photography/Art Direction by Norene Sandifer
Design and Layout by Beth Anderson Design
Glass Art by John De Wit, Cultus Bay Glass, Langley, WA
THANKS:
Melinda Bargreen, Nancy Rumbel, Friedemann Tischmeyer/IMSLP, Rachel DeShon, Erik Zobler, Ehrlund Microphones/Sweden, Fred Forssell/Forssell Technologies, Walt Wagner, Dr. Don Novey, Norene Sandifer, Dr. Chris and Jyl Leininger, Marty Friedman/WICN-FM, Paul Hubert/Immersive Networks, Steve Korn Photography.
RON SCHEPPER, TEXTURA
Not all that long ago, Dan Dean’s reputation was rooted in his prowess as a bassist operating within instrumental jazz contexts and crafting well-received recordings for Origin Records. A remarkable left-turn occurred in 2017, however, with the release of Songs Without Words, his first full-on foray into the world of multi-layered vocal expression. Four years later, Fanfare for the Common Man saw him refining the approach, and Vocalise now shows the high standard of artistry he’s achieved in pursuing this direction. The music he issued with vibraphonist Tom Collier on Duets (2005) and keyboardists George Duke, Larry Goldings, Gil Goldstein, and Kenny Werner on 2-5-1 (2010) feels galaxies removed from the ingenious re-imaginings of classical works on Vocalise and the two before it.
The creation of Dean’s vocal material requires a staggering amount of patience, precision, and dexterity. Building layer upon layer in his simulation of detailed classical arrangements, Dean achieves something that’s technically impressive but more importantly musically rewarding. With respect to content, his vocal trilogy is clearly more classical than jazz, yet the feel of the latter nevertheless emerges in the strong rhythmic drive of the pieces. While some of them are soothing and serene, others exude the propulsive thrust of jazz. Even so, it would be a stretch to label Vocalise jazz—not that issues of genre matter when the musical results are so satisfying.
Two-thirds of the selections are by Russian composers, but Dean’s choices weren’t necessarily guided by nationality but simply particular compositions he was drawn to tackling this time around. While Vocalise perpetuates the approach he used for its predecessors, it also shows him exploring new ideas and techniques. He describes in his liner notes, for example, how in assembling the parts for Fauré’s Pavane in F# Minor, Opus 50, he juxtaposed non-vibrato orchestral vocals and vibrato choir vocals to realize the desired effect.
A slower setting such as Rachmaninoff’s entrancing “Vocalise” allows the engulfing beauty of Dean’s vocal sound to be fully appreciated as well as the meticulousness with which the arrangement’s been constructed. Here and elsewhere, parts are intricately woven into an elegant, fluidly flowing expression that captures the spirit of the original in its conventionally presented form. Speaking of entrancement, Couperin’s Les Barricades Mystérieuses and Fauré’s Pavane lend themselves exceptionally well to Dean’s approach when their lilting patterns translate into vocal parts seamlessly.
Three Prokofiev pieces appear, up first the driving Toccata in D Minor, Opus 11, which dazzles for the complexity of its soaring interweave. From Romeo and Juliet comes “Montagues and Capulets,” and as anyone familiar with the ballet score knows the tension-rich material includes a massive climax that reflects the conflict between the warring families. The “Marche” from L’amour des Trois Oranges comes last, as engaging and arresting in this treatment as it is in the original. Excerpted from L’Histoire d’un Soldat, Stravinsky’s “Triumphal March of the Devil” hammers forcefully in this treatment. Even better, Dean’s version accentuates the brilliant rhythmic invention of the composer’s writing.
Departing from the album’s otherwise all-classical content, Dean chose to end the release with a stirring treatment of Mark Knopfler’s much-loved “Going Home” from his Local Hero soundtrack. Distancing the Celtic folk-inspired piece even more from the tracks preceding it, Dean’s rhapsodic version features his fretless bass in the lead role with voices as a gentle choir accompaniment. In fact, the instrument sounds so terrific in this context, one wonders if Dean shouldn’t consider giving it a more prominent role in his next vocal collection.
DAN McCLENAGHAN, All About Jazz
Dan Dean has created a new music genre, a choir-of-angels approach molded via meticulous overdubs using one voice. His own. Fans of the bassist (vocalist, sound shaper, engineer) could not have had a clue as to this vocalise direction Dean would take from listening to 2010’s Duets (Origin Records) with vibraphonist Tom Collier or to 2 5 1 (Origin Records, 2010), a marvelous set that featured bassist Dean accompanied by keyboardists George Duke, Larry Goldings, Gil Goldstein and Kenny Werner (review here). These were straight-ahead instrumental jazz albums, but not ones that would be tagged as experimental. The floodgates to that end of the pool for Dean was 2017’s Origin Records set Songs Without Words (review here). This is where the celestial choir took flight, with Dean sitting in for God (and the angels), taking all of the vocal and studio duties.
Fanfare for the Common Man (Origin Records, 2021) followed (review here), with Dean diving deeper into this layered vocals form of expression.
For those of a “but is it jazz” frame of mind, these previously mentioned sets—and the one at hand, Vocalise, could not be, by any stretch, called jazz, if that matters. Call them “studio-crafted, experimental classical works.” Dean explores the music of Vivaldi, J.S. Bach and more on Songs Without Words; he examines Aaron Copland, Mendelssohn, Holst and, again, Bach on his Fanfare For the Common Man. With Vocalise we hear Dean’s take on compositions by Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Holst and Gabriel Fauré.
This glorious music—soaring, symphonic, mind-bending, intricate, complex yet ultimately approachable—is an immersion into a modern nondenominational spiritual vision from the melding of Dean’s creative vision with some classical greats.
“Sergei Prokofiev: Toccata in D Minor, Opus 11” sounds like a twenty-voice choir joining hands with a doo-wop band (pompadours not required), “Igor Stravinsky: L’Histoire d’un Soldat, Triumphal March of the Devil” sounds aggressive, a sonic knocking down of the city gates. “Gustav Holst: Suite 1, Mvt. 2, Interlude” bubbles with joy, while “Sergei Prokofiev: Montagues and Capulets” hums like the background noise of the pre-bigbang universe. Then it explodes, followed by a dreamy reverie. How Dean made this with just his voice is a mystery. As it is with much of the album.
And if Dean’s choice of material leans deeply into the profound and weighty classical composers, he closes the show with a surprise: “Mark Knopfler: Going Home (Theme of the Local Hero)” from the pen of the front man of the rock group Dire Straits. It is an uplifting and reflective piece the guitarist wrote for the movie Local Hero, that sounds here, in Dan Dean’s re-creation, as profoundly beautiful as all of the music that precedes it.